How creating works by hand opens the mind, establishes a sense of self and brings peace.

Author: Turner Houston

A woman with a deep curiosity about everything on earth--really, everything: how paper is made, what life is like for honeybees inside their hive, where wind comes from, how people choose what they do in their lifetimes--everything. Creativity is central to who I am: photography, writing, cooking, pottery, soap-making and, yes--knitting (but weird knitting, not "your mother's knitting.") So it makes sense that I should try to understand the magic of creativity and why it confers such gifts to those who make things...

I knit a lot for charity. It’s rare that I knit anything for myself. When I focus on a need that I can help fill–in my very small, but creative way–I get fully immersed in the work to the detriment of all else.

I’ve been doing test runs with different personas over the last 48-years, looking for aspects of identity I might use. I’ve built internal stories and altered my appearance to help me adapt to new places and people. Despite all the changing around, though, I’ve never wondered WHO I am. Every one of the personas, even those appearing only in a photograph, has been an expression of me. As the late Oliver Sachs said, “We have, each of us, a life-story, an inner narrative — whose continuity, whose sense, is our lives. It might be said that each of us constructs and lives, a “narrative,” and that this narrative is us, our identities.”Continue reading “About Face”→

“Stitch by stitch, moment by moment, we are knitting a fabric of
present moment awareness.” — Becky Stewart, KnitOm

I follow Becky Stewart of Knit Om, a private knitters’ group on Facebook. She is a constant inspiration, helping my bring awareness to my knitting. She’s leading a 30-day knitting challenge, each day challenging us to think in new ways about our knitting, and to knit mindfully, meditatively. Continue reading “My “Why” for Knitting”→

Maybe it was “The Picture” that that pushed me to action. The little girl in red, crying as her immigrant mother is searched and arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. That photo (by John Moore/Getty Images) of the terrified 2-year old and her mother hit me hard, as though the center thread holding together my sense of America’s goodness had exploded, that everything I believed and knew had ended. Continue reading “The Cry in the Night. And My Answer.”→

After days, weeks, really–of rain, my little herb garden on my patio was looking verdant and lush. I stood inside, looking at it and wondering what I could make with the herbs besides pesto sauce and flavoring of entrees. And then it hit me: what would be nice right now, after dinner? What would be good in the tropical heat and humidity? Duh, sorbet. Continue reading “Creative Sorbet-making”→

I’m not wild about Monet’s art. But I am wild about what he had to say about seeing, producing, creating. He, an art master of great renown, expressed so perfectly that with which I have been unsuccessfully flailing about. Namely, the importance of SEEING. Not just looking at things, not just naming them and moving on, but slowing down, actually removing yourself from thinking, and seeing what you are looking at. Continue reading “Forget the Name of What You Are Seeing”→

Since 1970, and the first celebration of our planet, Earth Day has been an important day for me. I set aside time that day to meditate on my relationship with the Earth. And I inevitably feel enormous gratitude for being sustained by this planet in body, mind and soul. Not just sustained, however, but inspired to create, to respect and protect the environment and all life. Continue reading “Prayers for the Earth”→

About

A woman with a deep curiosity about everything on earth--really, everything: how paper is made, what life is like for honeybees inside their hive, where wind comes from, how people choose what they do in their lifetimes--everything. Creativity is central to who I am: photography, writing, cooking, pottery, soap-making and, yes--knitting (but weird knitting, not "your mother's knitting.") So it makes sense that I should try to understand the magic of creativity and why it confers such gifts to those who make things...

Craftiest Project of the Month: Crochet up this Plarn Lunch Tote and help rid the world of a ton of plastic grocery bags, turning them into something useful. Pattern from Vickie Howell’s terrific blog.

Tasty + Good Recipes: Skinnytaste.com’s Lentil Salad. Super easy to make, loaded with 7 grams of protein per serving, meat and gluten free, and DELICIOUS—who could ask for anything more?